South African Adrian Kuttel achieved an historic feat when he provisionally won the monohull category in the 2023 Cape2Rio race with an incredible display of sailing.
Although Kuttel’s ‘Atalanta’ finished 61 minutes behind Michael Kavenagh’s fully crewed and much larger ‘Ray of Light’, he takes the handicap honours having sailed the race single-handedly.
Kuttel’s victory is likely to be by at least two days and while he may be disappointed not to take the line honours as well, can be immensely proud of an incredible achievement and the bravery he showed to take on the race solo.
It was not only that he was on his own over the vast South Atlantic Ocean, but also the fact that Atalanta is the smallest boat in the entire fleet, another handicap he had to endure.
Atalanta is carrying the colours of the Sentinel Ocean Alliance, a charity that creates ocean-based opportunities and provides environmental education for the youth of South Africa’s coastal communities.